Series

Winner(s)

First Broadcast

Original channel

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Succeeded by

The Grand Final of Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars was a series of battles which determined the Grand Champion of Robot Wars: The Fifth Wars. It was fought between the four robots that had progressed through their heats and won at least two battles in the Semi-Finals. There were two Grand Final Eliminators to decide which robots would make the Grand Final, followed by a play-off for third and fourth. Finally, the Grand Champion would be determined in the Grand Final. The episode featuring the Grand Final was originally broadcast on May 27, 2002 on BBC Choice and repeated on November 1, 2002 on BBC Two.

Bigger Brother and Hypno-Disc darted past each other, and sat still. Bigger Brother turned its heavily armoured rear towards Hypno-Disc and tentatively attacked. The rear of Bigger Brother managed to hold up very well to the flywheel, and Bigger Brother attacked again in the same way, attempting to stop the disc for long enough to use its flipper.

"I'll tell you, Bigger Brother withstood that attack, very nicely!"

— Jonathan Pearce

The second attempt stalled Hypno-Disc long enough for Bigger Brother to fire its flipper, but Hypno-Disc was not flipped. Bouncing back onto its wheels, Hypno-Disc's weapon began to inflict serious damage on Bigger Brother, tearing an armour panel off and gouging into the front. Bigger Brother attempted to attack with the armoured rear once more, but this time, Hypno-Disc's weapon was able to gouge into the armour. Hypno-Disc managed to open the gouge on the rear by striking it twice more. Bigger Brother continued to keep its back to Hypno-Disc, but the deadly flywheel was wearing through the armour. Bigger Brother attempted a flip, but it was unsuccessful. Bigger Brother attacked once more, and in its attempts to flip, the flipper broke into pieces. Bigger Brother pushed Hypno-Disc, and the savaged armour on Bigger Brother's left flank broke away from the body. The two drove into the CPZ, and Shunt seized and axed Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother attempted to escape the CPZ, but took severe damage in the process.

A sensational comeback

"And I'll tell you what, despite all the damage, Bigger Brother are still fighting. I wouldn't have minded a Bigger Brother like this."

— Jonathan Pearce

Bigger Brother slammed into the far wall, then pushed Hypno-Disc into the pit release as it attempted to block it. Nudging its opponent, Bigger Brother pitted Hypno-Disc and won the battle, against all the odds.

Just as it had in Extreme, Razer seized Firestorm 3 and pierced straight into the heart of Firestorm. Firestorm's flipper fired, and Razer carved into the exposed mechanism. Firestorm 3 fell free, but Razer's beak descended into Firestorm's innards once more. Firestorm 3 finally escaped, but its flipper mechanism was stuck open.

"Look at the front flipper, is that not wedged open or do my eyes deceive me, which means the very innards of Firestorm are now open for any Razer attack."

— Jonathan Pearce

Firestorm 3 pushes Razer across the pit of oblivion

Firestorm 3 rammed Razer, and turned back before attacking again. Razer caught Firestorm 3 and crushed down, crumpling the flipper down and back into place to cover the internals. However, with its restored wedge, Firestorm 3 managed to get beneath Razer and slam it into the angle grinders. Razer shifted in its position and managed to crush into Firestorm, dislocating part of the armour plate. Razer became wedged beneath the angle grinder, and was unable to escape, but Refbot nudged it free, and Razer dodged free of Sergeant Bash. Razer grabbed Firestorm 3 once more and pierced into it, but Firestorm 3 drove forward and crossed the corner of the pit, very nearly pushing the dominant Razer in.

"Oh! How did they survive that? I've heard of walking on water, but walking across the Pit of Oblivion? Never before have we seen that!"

Razer and Firestorm 3 both dodged out of Bash's CPZ, and pressed against each other. Firestorm 3 pushed Razer into the CPZ of Bash once more. Razer drove out, and then back in, carrying Firestorm 3 with it, but it released Firestorm 3 in the CPZ and darted away, leaving its adversary to be attacked by Bash. Firestorm 3 escaped and ran into Razer, whose beak had weakened significantly and was unable to pierce through the flipper. Shunt axed both machines as they drew close to its CPZ, and Razer pulled out, dragging Firestorm 3 with it. Cease was called as time ran out.

"And it looks as if we're going to go to the judges. This was an unbelievable contest! What a battle - one of the closest I've seen, nip and tick, no quarter was asked nor given. And I don't think we've seen its like before!"

— Jonathan Pearce

The judges, based on the amount of damage taken by Firestorm 3, gave the fight to Razer.

"They want everybody to know that it is the closest fight they've ever marked on Robot Wars. Its the hardest decision they've ever had to make on Robot Wars. See, I think you won aggression - you pushed them around, nearly got them in pits twice. Razer's always going to win style. It came down to damage."

Firestorm 3 had suffered terrible damage from its fight against Razer, and the robot's flipper arm did not work. Instead, the team piled extra armour on the front of Firestorm 3.

"There's nothing to lose, everything to play for, and Hypno-Disc is involved. What more could you hope for?"

— Philippa Forrester

Both machines crash into the pit

Hypno-Disc turned side on and the disc began spinning, but the armoured Firestorm charged in and slammed into the disc, pushing Hypno-Disc into the side wall. It then reversed it towards the CPZ, and contact between the two caused Hypno-Disc to jump into the air. Driving away, Hypno-Disc attempted to spin and attack, but the armoured front of Firestorm 3 deflected the blow. Firestorm continued relentlessly, attempting twice to get beneath Hypno-Disc but being deflected by the disc on both occasions. Firestorm crashed into Sir Killalot, and as it fled, Hypno-Disc cut a deep welt in its side. Firestorm activated the pit and charged back at Hypno-Disc, managing to get into a position where Firestorm was not touching the disc. Firestorm pushed Hypno-Disc towards the pit, and both robots plunged into oblivion.

"Firestorm, once a shining dream machine. Now battle scarred and war weary, but third in Robot Wars!"

"Firestorm onto the side of Hypno-Disc again. Across the arena, at up to 12 miles an hour- They've both gone down! Work that one out!"

— Jonathan Pearce

The judges called for a rematch, but unfortunately, Hypno-Disc had broken down.

Craig Charles: "The judges said they want a rematch. Is that okay with you?"

Dave Rose: "We'd like to do it, but unfortunately we're actually immobile. We've lost some electronics somewhere, so we can't continue."

Craig Charles: "So you can't continue?"

Derek Rose: "The weapon's working, the self-righter's working, but we think something's come loose when we hit the pit"

Craig Charles: "Well, unfortunately then, if you're immobilised, you know the rules, the decision has gone to Firestorm!"

With help from various eliminated teams, including those of its previous opponents Chaos 2 and Hypno-Disc, Bigger Brother was restored to a reasonable level of functioning for its last battle.

Philippa Forrester: "Are you ready for the fight of the century? Because, the mangled piece of metal on the arena floor that was Bigger Brother has now been rebuilt and is a robot looking ready to fight. Everyone, everyone here - except one team - has helped you out. What do you want to say to them?"

Ian Watts: "You know who you are - there's just so many of you, I can't list you all - you know who you are, thank-you so much. We wouldn't be here otherwise."

— Before the fight

Razer pierces Bigger Brother

Razer started quickly and, although Bigger Brother avoided it for a while, it even eventually grabbed hold and pierced through the outer shell. Bigger Brother fired its flipper, but this did nothing to deter Razer's beak. However, Bigger Brother's wedge was difficult for Razer to reach, and Razer could only pierce small holes in Bigger Brother's base.

"And Razer's feel has the touch of cold steel. Slicing into Bigger Brother - a slice is nice! Twice!"

— Jonathan Pearce

Razer lifts Bigger Brother

However, Razer soon caught a larger area of Bigger Brother and pierced in, lifting Bigger Brother from the ground. Bigger Brother's weight and the recoil from its flipper firing, however, were enough to shake it off Razer's claw. The two robots spun in circles, trying to get their weapon to reach the other. Bigger Brother's base was resting on Razer's wheel from when it had fallen off the beak, and the robots were pinned together. Bigger Brother finally shook them apart by firing its flipper. Bigger Brother drove back, and turned around, but the frontal assault only allowed Razer to pierce into the heart of Bigger Brother.

Razer bites in

It escaped and activated the pit, but Razer quickly caught it and pierced into the robot. It dragged Bigger Brother around, but intervention from Bash caused Razer to release its opponent. Bigger Brother was showing significant signs of impaired movement, but time ran out and the judges were consulted.

"The judges are going to have to decide! What a brilliant feat by Bigger Brother to hold on. Razer has not finished them off, not yet, and it won't do so! What a final it was. They think they've won it, they think they're champs at last."

— Jonathan Pearce

Razer was announced as the UK Champion, after three years of failures.

The battle between Firestorm 3 and Razer is considered one of the closest judges decisions in the show's history as, for the second time, the judges descended to the arena to examine both robots.

The third-place Playoff was Firestorm 3's eighth fight in The Fifth Wars. Prior to Series 8, this set the record for the most battles fought by a competitor in a single competition.

This was the only Grand Final not to feature the Number 1 Seed, discounting series that had no Seeds.

It is stated by Jonathan Pearce that Chaos 2 won its first round battle against The Tartan Terror in the series recap at the beginning of the episode, when in fact it beat Storm Force. The Steel Avenger fought The Tartan Terror in Heat A.

All four Grand Finalists defeated at least one of the previous year's semi-finalists en route to the Grand Final. This had previously occurred in Series 3 and would occur again in Series 6.